Lubricator for steam machinery



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' G. H. FLOWER.

Lubricator for Steam Machinery.

No. 229,242. 2 Patented 'June29,1880; I

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(Model.) 7 zsheets- -sheet 2. G. HJFLOWER, Lubricator for SteamMachinery. No. 229,242. Patented June 29, 1880.

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UNITED STATES GEORGE H. FLOWER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

LUBRICATOR FOR STEAM MACHINERY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 229,242, dated June 29,188().

Application filed March 1, 1880.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. FLOWER, of Chicago, county of Cook, andState of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Lubricator for SteamMachinery; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,and exact'description of the same, reference being bad to theaecompanyin g drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a side view of 1ny inven tion; Fig. 2, a vertical sectional view of the same; Fig. 3, ahorizontal section on the line a; 00, Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a horizontalsection 011 the line y 3 Fig. 1, including a plan view of those partswhose upper surfaces are below the line of section; and Fig. 5, ahorizontal section on the line 2 2, Fig. 1.

The same letters represent the same parts in all the figures.

My invention relates to improvements in lubricating apparatus for steammachinery;

and the object of it is to facilitate the automatic distribution of thelubricant from a reservoir by the aid of the steam to the cylinder,piston, piston-rod, and valves, and to give a more compact andeconomical form than any hitherto in use to the apparatus for thispurpose.

A represents the reservoir for oil, closed at the top, and having thedetachable cap or stopper B, and opening at the bottom into the shorttube 0, through which it may be emptied by a valve.

The steam-pipe O 0 passes from the steamchest horizontally through theupper part of the reservoir without opening into it, an d leads into themetallic cap D of the glass tube E, whose cavity rises just high enoughto receive 0. The portion within the reservoir may be cast in one piecewith it, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

H is a small pipe or tube opening into the steam-pipe, and is open atthe top into a condenser, I. Between this tube and the steamchest avalve of any suitable construction may be placed so as to admit ofopening and closing at will the communication between the apparatus andthe steam-chest. The condenser Icovers the tube H, whose upper end is ashort distance below the top of I.

The condenser is entirely closed except at the bottom, where it admitsthe tube H to pass (ModcL) up into its interior, and where it opens intothe water-tube K. This tube K passes downward and opens intothe bottomof the oilreservoirA. This portion of the machine is so arranged thatthe portion 0 of the steampipe on the right of the oil-reservoir, asshown in the drawings, the lower part of the tube H, and the upper partof the water-tube K may all be cast in a single piece, as shown in Figs.2 and 3 of the drawings.

The valve L, which may be of any suitable construction, is placed in thelowest part of the tube K, so as at will to arrest or permit the passageof water into the oil-reservoir.

Within the reservoir A is the oil-ontlet M a tube extending verticallyalmost to the top of the reservoir, and open at its upper end. It passesout through the bottom of the reservoir and into the otherwise closedmetallic bottom of the glass tubetE, and terminates therein a shortdistance above the bottom in the small orifice m. The valve or cook L isplaced in M, so as at will to arrest or permit the passage of oilthrough it.

N is a wire, which extends vertically from the oil-outlet M, through theorifice m, up the middle of the glass tube, and into the metallic cap D,nearly to the point where the latter receives the steam-pipe C.

To put the machine into operation, the valve 'connectin g the wholeapparatus with the steamchest being closed and the valves L L being alsoclosed, the reservoir A is filled with oil through the opening made byremoving the cap or stopper B. B is then replaced and the steam is letin from the steam-chest. It passes through the steam'pipe O G into theglass tube E, and through the steam-inlet H into the condenser I. Thissteam, by condensation, deposits water in the water-tube K and in theglass tube E; but no steam or water finds access to the interior of thereservoir. When E is full of water and I partly so the valves L L areopened, and the water in the condenser, standing at a higher level thanthe fluid in any other part of the machine, is forced by hydrostaticpressure through the water-tube K into the bottom of the receiver A.Here it forces up the lighter oil, so that the latter flows over intothe oil'outlet M, and through M and m into the glass tube E, where itpasses up the wire N into the cap D. Here it is taken up by the steam inthe steam-pipe O G, and is carried in to the steam-chest ,thenceitpasses into the valves and cylinder, and is deposited on the surfaces ofthe piston and piston-rod. As in its entire circuit through theapparatus it never reaches the height of the water-level in thecondenser, it is constantly under the propelling influence of thehydrostatic pressure.

When the quantity of water in the oil-reservoir becomes too great, so asto cause an overflow of water into the oil-outlet, the water will beseen rising through the orifice m in the glass tube E.- The valves L Lshould then be closed, preventing any further passage of water into thereservoir or the glass tube, and the tube 0 opened by means of its valveor cook, letting the water out of the reservoir, which may then berefilled with oil.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The wire N, in combination with the glass tube E, and the oil-outletM, whereby the con stant flow of the oil is regulated and conducted insight through the middle of the tube E into the steam-pipe O 0,substantially as described.

2. The oil-reservoir A, in combination with the condenser I, openinginto the oil-reservoir, and the tube E, receiving oil from theoil-reservoir, and the steam-pipe O 0, opening freely into the condenserI and the tube E, whereby the oil is forced from the reservoir andcarried out through the same pipe that supplies steam to make thepressure, as above described.

3. The steam-pipe (J O, passing horizontally through the upper part ofthe oil-reservoir and having the portion within the reservoir capable ofbeing cast in one piece with it, as shown and described.

4. The base 1? 1?, including the lower portions of the water-tube K andoutlet M, the disel'larging-tube O, and the seats for the valves L andL, and capable of being cast-in one piece, substantially as and for thepurpose described.

5. The joint 0 of the steam-pipe G 0, containing the lower portion ofthe steam-inlet H, the upper portion of the WZLtGDlJllbG K, and the twoports 0 and c, forming the passage for the steam around said inlet andtube, the whole capable of being cast in a single piece, as shown anddescribed.

GEORGE E. FLOWER Witnesses:

JNo. O. MAGGREGOR, W. O. CoRLIEs.

